


truth will set you free

by roseandthorns28, Winifred_Zachery



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Confessions, HYDRA sucks, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, Needles, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Steve Needs a Hug, Truth Serum
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-07-18 03:39:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16110005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseandthorns28/pseuds/roseandthorns28, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winifred_Zachery/pseuds/Winifred_Zachery
Summary: Steve is worried. Hydra’s truth serum is working like a charm. He’s spilling his soul for the whole world and Tony to hear.Tony isn’t worried. Hydra’s truth serum isn’t working. Because there's no way the words coming out of Steve’s mouth are true.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bill_Longbow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bill_Longbow/gifts).



> This is a birthday gift for our wonderful Bill who made us fall in love with Steve again with her amazing, multi-faceted writing of him and in-depth headcanonning. Not to mention the hordes of Chris Evans gifsets and pretty photoshoots.

When Tony wakes it is dark and he’s bound and he goes into an instant panic. His breathing picks up and he turns his head, tugs at the bonds at his arms and legs that hold him to some kind of chair. The blood rushing through his ears is insanely loud. 

His chest tightens. He’s having a heart attack. He is back in Afghanistan and there are people standing over him to crack his chest open and he needs to get away, he needs to breathe! 

 

“Tony! Tony, calm down!” Steve calls out hoarsely, doing his best to keep his voice calm despite having come to missing a good chunk of time, strapped down to a table with metal bands across his chest, waist, and thick cuffs around his wrists and ankles. He'd swum back to consciousness about half an hour ago ago, Tony in his line of sight. He'd spent half the time trying to break out, pulling at the metal, trying to get whatever leverage he could. It was all for nothing though because it seemed like they'd taken his strength into account. 

The rest of the time he'd spent trying to call out to Tony. He needed to know the genius was okay, that he was fine since he couldn't actually go over and check him himself. Plus, Tony and him working together would get them out in no time.

Despite him calling out, the brunet had remained slumped in his bonds- rope, thankfully. It was only now that he'd startled awake and began thrashing about with a soft punched out litany of “no”s under his breath and it broke Steve's heart to hear that, see evidence of Tony's demons and not be able to do anything to soothe them. 

So, he called out best he could in his most soothing tone of voice, trying to get Tony to calm down. 

“I'm here, Tony. I'm with you. You need to calm down. Okay?”    
  


The voice echoes in Tony’s head as if it’s far away. It sounds familiar though, comfortable, safe.

It doesn’t fit with the desert cave waterboarding and non-consensual body modifications. No, instead it tastes like childhood, dusty film reels and apple pie. Apple pie always makes Tony think of Steve.

“Steve!” His shout is more panicked than he’ll ever admit to once they’re out of this… wherever this is. “Steve? Where are you?”

Tony tugs at his bonds once more, the shackles are rough against his flesh and his wrists are already sore as if he tugged at them while unconscious. 

 

“Tony! Stop, you’ll hurt yourself!” Steve calls out, “Calm down. Take a breath. I’m right here. Six feet to your left. Follow my voice, Tony. I’m right here.”  His heart wrenches at Tony’s panicky voice, the sounds of his struggles. The large room they’re in- some kind of dank basement- barely lets any light in and it’s only because of his enhanced eyesight that he can see Tony as well as he can.

“Tony, I need you to calm down, okay? Please.”

 

“Steve,” Tony gasps, hearing the voice of his friend much more clearly now. “Steve, you’re here, okay, okay, I can do this.”

He concentrates on his breathing, forcing himself to slow his frantically beating heart. This is not a cave, he’s not strapped to an operating table against his will. He has a friend with him.

Slowly, slowly, he manages to calm down and breathe easier, to think. They’re trapped here, snatched from the street in broad daylight on a stroll through the city. The way his head hurts somebody must have bashed him over the head good.

He’s nowhere near the suit, not even a mobile phone from the feel of it. His jean pockets are empty.

Everything around them is dark and he’s not able to move, no matter how hard he jerks against his bonds. And from the sound of it, neither can Steve, an idea that is unsettling.

He can’t see, not one bit, everything’s dark around him. It’s a tactic. He knows, probably from watching one too many spy movies with Nat and Clint and their colorful commentary.

“Steve, you can see, can’t you? I need to know where we are.”

They need to get free of these bonds before whoever managed to grab them comes back.

 

“Okay, I’ll tell you what I can see. We’re in a 30 feet by 50 feet room. It’s dark, I’m thinking basement of some kind of warehouse. The windows are all blacked out. There is one door to your left with a strip of light underneath. I’m on a metal table, sort of like a gurney but without the comfortable memory foam from back in the Tower,” Steve starts, keeping his tone light so as to soothe Tony. He really hates hearing the thread of panic in Tony’s voice. Slowly, he starts trying to push against the restraints, to try and break them (despite them being made of pretty strong metal) so he can get Tony out of here. 

“You’re about six feet away, on a chair. Your hands are bound by rope. There’s some old cardboard boxes to the side but nothing much. It’s pretty empty.” 

He pauses, biting his lip when a particular hard tug makes the skin on wrist scrape a little. This isn’t working. He needs to try something else.    
  
“How are you doing, Tony? Have your eyes adjusted yet?” 

 

“I... I see something.“ Tony blinks, he tries, but he just can’t make out anything concrete. Steve’s descriptions are somewhat reassuring. Not what he describes but rather that at least one of them can see properly. “They might have injected me with something. Everything’s blurry.” Now that he’s able to concentrate better he can feel a sore muscle in his thigh where a needle must have been used on him.

What is becoming more and more worrying, however, is that apparently neither he nor Steve are able to free themselves. No amount of struggling and twisting will loosen the ropes around his wrists and the chair seems bolted to the floor. Tony tried, hard enough that he’d probably have brained himself if the chair hadn’t been fixed. 

But Tony is nothing if not persistent (or stubborn, if anybody asks Steve). Every material will give with enough wear, the only question is what will give first, Tony’s wrists or the rope? He’s been twisting his arms and wrists relentlessly since he woke up and his skin already feels like rope burn and not the fun kind.

 

Steve’s enhanced hearing can pick up the sounds of the struggles, the scrape of the rough rope against Tony’s wrists and he knows the genius is going to hurt himself soon if he keeps that up.

“Tony, stop struggling. We’ll get out of here but it’ll be of no use if you can’t use your hands after. Trust me, please. Use that big brain of yours, let me be the brawn.” 

One reaction that Steve hadn’t expected was for Tony to scoff loudly in the oppressive silence. Before he can ask, Tony volleys back, “Don’t even try to pull that with me, Rogers. I know you’re smart as hell. Maybe even genius levels, if we ever get you tested. I know you’ve evaluated the situation already and you know there’s no way out for now. Stop trying to make me feel better.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens...

“If you’d give me a minute and trust in my intellect, I’d have time to work something out!” Steve retaliates, unable to keep the bite out of his tone. He really hates it when Tony deliberately needles him. 

Still, a corner of his heart is warmed by the idea that Tony genuinely thinks he’s smart… that someone like Tony thinks he’s smart. And if it were any other circumstance, Steve would be flustered by the knowledge but right now, in this situation that he cannot control where Tony is in such obvious danger, the same quirks that endear him to Steve – his babbling, his snark, his wit – are the ones that drive him up the wall. 

He needs to get Tony out of here and to safety before he can even consider making light of the situation. 

Tony falls silent at Steve’s snappy tone. They’re fucked and Tony is already halfway to a panic again, but Steve is right, of course. Not that he’ll admit it out loud.

“At least let me try to get loose, I’ll heal way faster,” Steve adds in a softer tone, apology evident in his words. It’s not Tony’s fault he’s coping the best he can. Steve should be better, should be stronger, should be more alert. He shouldn’t take his anger out on Tony. That he’s saving for the bastards that locked ‘em up in here. 

There are sounds coming from the direction where Steve is strapped to the gurney, but they’re far from reassuring. Steve is hurting himself now, Tony’s sure of it, and it breaks his heart.

“Steve-” he starts but is interrupted by the door banging open and lights flaring outside, blinding him momentarily. 

“Ah, Captain, Mr. Stark. I see you are awake. Don’t bother trying to break free. We have designed these restraints with your abilities in mind. The Viper made sure to take each and every precaution.” 

“HYDRA,” Steve growls. He had suspected something of the sort, given the drug he’d been hit with and the level of preparation. These weren’t some back alley goons. Still, having evidence of their involvement provides no relief. 

“What the hell do you guys want now?” 

“What we want, Captain,” the HYDRA guy says, making a pause for effect, no doubt. It is successful in as far as that it makes Tony apprehensive as fuck. As do the footsteps suddenly coming towards him.

“-is for your partner-”

Footsteps shuffling closer and Tony still can’t see a fucking thing!

“-to provide us with-”

There’s suddenly a hand on his shoulder and Tony jerks violently, even though he rationally knows he’s got nowhere to go. Whatever these bastards want, they’re obviously very familiar with tactical warfare and mindfuckery.

“-the access codes for the SHIELD helicarrier.”

“Yeah, no,” Tony replies immediately, voice full of mockery even though he is still agitated from being touched without consent. “Good luck there. Not like the one-eyed wonder trusts us with those. I mean, still a bit bitter about that, but what do you say to a man whose leather coat doesn’t stop flapping even when there’s not the slightest draft nearby. Must have stolen the technology from Strange and nope, not touching that one, just to be safe.”

The man looming above him just visible in the dim light spilling from the open door chuckles as if Tony said something really amusing just now. “I’m sure we have ways to make you change your mind.” The man finally says, voice strangely void of humor. It makes Tony shiver.

He’s been on the receiving end of ways-to-change-your-mind once too often and doesn’t relish the thought all that much. Which is to say, the blood in his veins suddenly runs cold. He’s not sure he’ll survive another round of torture.

Both he and Steve actually do know the codes between them but Tony is reasonably sure Steve won’t crack. Which leaves him as the weakest link, but he’ll be damned if he’ll let pain and fear get the better of him and disappoint Captain America.

But then the man continues. “I’m sure either you or the Captain will have something to confess during the course of the next few hours. What do you say, the three of us have a pleasant little chat with some tea and crumpets. Well, at least for me. For you it’ll be a nice sip of HYDRA’s finest truth serum.” 

 

Steve growls when the goon starts threatening Tony, his struggles getting more fierce. He makes sure not to make it too obvious though. He knows how this works. If he shows how much the HYDRA scientist’s presence near Tony makes his skin crawl, they’ll use that to their advantage. He feels the restraints digging into his wrists turn slippery with blood, but his attention is zeroed in to where the man has a hand on Tony’s shoulder. He feels so helpless and he hates every second that ticks by with him unable to do anything. 

“There’s no such thing as truth serums. You’re kidding yourself if you think that’s going to work. Like Tony said, he doesn’t know anything. Neither do I. You’re only making things worse for yourself.” Steve grits out, wanting to turn the man’s attention to himself. 

He knows Tony hates being deprived of any of his senses, that it brings back bad memories for him – just like the cold does for Steve – and he wants to give Tony something to hold on to. Hopefully, the conviction he tries to infuse his voice with works, despite the fact that Tony’s one of the only people he’s never really been able to fool. 

“You doubt the might of HYDRA, but not for long, good Captain. You shall see.” The man replies, waving an imperious hand towards the ceiling – proving at least that there are cameras here – causing the door to open and a HYDRA soldier to roll in a table full of what look like surgical implements along with a few bottles of colourless liquids. 

“You should see this, Stark. Even you and your fellow scientists can’t hold a candle to our brilliance.” The man leers down at Tony, smug superiority dripping from his words. “Oh, my bad. I forgot you can’t see much now, can you?” There is movement and suddenly the room is overwhelmingly bright. “There, better? Wouldn’t want the great Tony Stark to be inconvenienced.”

Ton blinks as his eyes are exposed to the harsh light again. He still can’t see shit in the sudden brightness and his eyes are starting to water. There’s no use shielding them, though, because damn, he’s still bound.

“This here, Stark, is our very own invention, unlike you we didn’t even need to steal it from better minds,” the scientist continues, not even having the courtesy to wait until after Tony’s managed to blink the tears out of his eyes.

“Wait, you didn’t steal it?” He puts every ounce of haughtiness into his voice that he can muster. “Yeah, okay, hear that Cap, we’ve got nothing to fear.”

If only they could get out of these bonds, he’d shut that moron up for good, but there’s just no way. Tony shakes his head to clear it, still blinking, but at least able to see again now. His eyes flicker across the cart with its collection of medical instruments and beakers of clear fluid counting the guards standing at attention, taking in the blood that is dripping down Steve’s wrist and onto the floor. The sight makes him shudder, but he knows drawing attention away from Steve is essential now.

“Just you wait. It’ll soon be your turn and you’ll regret saying this when we’re prying your deepest, darkest secrets out of you.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Tony scoffs, showing bravado he doesn’t feel. This is Hydra. They’ll torture out of them any secrets they want to know and as soon as they have everything they want, they’ll keep going, just for the fun of it. “I bet that’s just water in those beakers.” This is important. Keep the bad guy talking. Bad guys love talking, right? Works in all the movies.

“Don’t worry, Stark, you will learn soon enough.”

It looks like the guy is finally done talking, though, because he turns towards the cart to slip on a pair of latex gloves. Tony panics. “What, no hour-long soliloquy, no great reveal of your evil plans? Come on, this is a cheap show, I want to complain to management!”

Sometimes Steve thinks that Tony is his own worst enemy. Hydra, AIM, or any of the other villains have nothing on his reckless and risk-taking behaviour.  
“Tony!” He warns, unable to do much else. 

“Distraction won’t work with me, Stark. I’m not one of those pests you deal with on a regular basis. No, our work is more refined, unparalleled even. Today, you shall be witness to one of our greatest developments,” the scientist continues, unwittingly taking Tony’s bait. “Our work in organic chemistry has brought us many gifts. One of which you experienced already, Captain. Tell me how does your head feel?” He continues, picking up a hypodermic needle and inserting it into the bottle, filling the syringe with the liquid. 

“My head feels just fine. Guess your newfangled chemicals aren’t as strong as you thought, huh?” Steve blusters as he watches the man’s approach, a mix of relief and trepidation in his chest. He sends up a prayer of thanks that he’s the one they’ll be giving god-knows which chemicals. He couldn’t stand it if it were Tony. 

Still, he has no idea what’s in those cocktail of drugs. He’s not completely ruling out the possibility that they could in fact have created such a solution. He’s not worried about revealing things he shouldn’t. 

Firstly, he doesn’t actually have all the information they seek. SHIELD has done the smart thing by breaking it up and distributing it amongst the team in pieces so that in situations such as these, if one person is compromised, the entire organisation isn’t. 

Secondly, he’s an old hat at holding it all in. What’s one more day?

“This one is much more potent. Don’t worry, it’ll be just a prick.” The man says, leaning over Steve to push back the navy shirt and slide the needle into his vein. “Tsk tsk, stop squirming, Captain. It’ll only hurt you more,” he adds when Steve begins to pull away, his instinctive distrust and reluctance to be poked at by evil scientists rearing its head. 

But what changes his mind instantly is Tony’s badly hidden mask of horror and fear. This is better. It better be him than Tony. Tony is the best thing there is to this new world and he’ll be damned if he lets Hydra get their dirty hands on him.

Looks like it’s time to man up and swallow the medicine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come say hi to [Roe](http://roe-sesandthorns.tumblr.com/) or [Wini (me)](https://harvestingstorm.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> Or join the [ Stuckony Server ](https://discord.gg/Pe23pBY) for all things Steve, Bucky, Tony!


	3. Chapter 3

Steve waits a few minutes on tenterhooks, waiting for something – something obvious and debilitating. “Performance issues?” Steve quips, trying to get some of the horror out of Tony’s eyes even if it’s with a juvenile joke. He expects many things, perhaps a backhand by the mook, an increase in dosage, even Tony’s incredulous response to him making a dick joke in the middle of what the genius has dubbed ‘Cap mode’.

What he doesn’t expect is his mouth to keep going without his permission or awareness. “Not that I would know. Got the opposite problem, more like. Sometimes it almost takes hours to go back down.”

The room is pin-drop silent before Steve shuts his mouth so hard his teeth click against each other audibly and the crazy scientist starts laughing maniacally. Oh god…

Tony can’t really help it, he lets out a helpless little laugh. Steve’s brand of humor has always tickled him and this is no exception, but Steve isn’t usually so crass. He just hopes that the blond will forgive him for laughing, even more so when he sees the mortification on his friend’s face.

Okay, this is not good. The truth serum actually seems to be working. He knows Steve. Steve doesn’t say things like that, well, except maybe in Tony’s fantasies, but this is reality and in this reality Steve Rogers doesn’t make raunchy jokes at his own expense.

The mad scientist is still laughing, confirming Tony’s suspicions that he is happy about more than Captain America making light of five-hour erections. This is so not good.

“Okay, you can stop now,” he finally explodes. “Wow, great, that super-juice of yours actually did something, or is Captain America just trying to fool you? Like, let’s say he’s even telling the truth, how can you be sure it was actually the serum making him admit stuff like that?”

Yeah, that sounds good. Maybe Steve is fooling them all. Maybe the face he pulled is really good acting, maybe he isn’t really embarrassed to admitting such an intimate detail about his bodily functions. Maybe he made it up.

Only Steve isn’t that good of an actor. He’s never been able to hide that adorable pink tinge of his cheeks and nose when he’s embarrassed thanks to his beautiful Irish complexion. Tony is a fan that blush, usually.

But if Steve wasn’t lying, that means he’ll actually stay hard for hours - no, bad Tony, dire situation here, so don’t even think about what that may imply.

Oh dear, they’re in so much trouble.

 

Steve’s mind is too consumed with horror at the thought of the truth serum actually working that he barely pays attention to Tony’s babble which on any other day would either have him hiding a smile or groaning in dismay.

“That is a very valid point you’ve raised, Mr. Stark. How indeed would we know if the good Captain is not being duplicitous. Perhaps we should put him in a position where he has no choice but to lie, shouldn’t we?” The scientist says, walking over to the tray of implements and picking something up that they can’t see on account of his turning his back to them.  
  
Steve feels a pool of dread in his stomach even as his muscles turn more relaxed and he tries to fight the sweeping feeling of manufactured calm that’s spreading over him. This is bad. He has an inkling of what’s coming next and he doesn’t know what he might end up saying if the man even threatens to hurt Tony.

When the man steps towards Steve, the super soldier lets out a small sigh of relief. Good, they’re going to start with him. No matter. He can take it.

The man has a baton with two tiny electrodes. “Your super soldier serum makes it a bit redundant to hurt you physically since you heal in a matter of hours. But this,” he says, firing up the stun gun with a devilish grin that is lit up by the sparking blue electricity, “this is an elegant solution. Now then, Captain, tell me. What are the access codes to the SHIELD helicarrier?”

“I don’t know,” Steve answers after a brief moment of hesitation that nearly makes Tony’s heart stop. But the relief is short-lived when he sees Steve starting to sweat. The man really is an abysmal liar and there’s no way the enemy missed that.

If this is the way things are going to go, Tony might as well tell them the codes right now. Seeing Steve like this is a torture all by itself. He’s just lucky that none of the Hydra goons show any interest in him at the moment. Instead all eyes are on Steve.

“Maybe the serum needs a little more time,” one of the scientists wearing a white lab coat suggests, earning an angry glare from the guy in charge.

“Why don't you focus on your assigned task?” he hisses and turns back to the Captain. “Maybe we’ll start with something a little smaller, as a kind of warm-up if you will.”

“Colossal idea,” Tony snorts, “why don’t you ask him his home address?”

“A colossal idea indeed, Mr. Stark,” the guy replies with a nod towards him. “I guess they don’t call you a genius for nothing.”

The smug tone in his voice rubs Tony the wrong way and he is about to open his mouth and show Hydra how sharp his tongue really is when Steve reflexively opens his mouth. “200 Park Avenue, Manhattan, New York,” he answers promptly and immediately shuts his mouth again, looking mortified.

Damn, not good.

“Very good,” the man replies, turning towards Steve. “What is your name, Captain?”

“Steven Grant Rogers,” Steve answers with only the briefest hesitation. “But you can’t just-”

“Oh, but I can,” the guy laughs quite evilly and oh how Tony hates laughter like that. All the bad guys do that, it’s just so stereotypical. “Why don’t you tell us what your favorite food is next?”

Steve clenches his jaw hard, unwilling to break so easily, to be so weak as to not even resist some stupid chemical. He’s Captain America, he’s got a will of iron…. And he’s opening his fat mouth again, “A good burger but I would kill for one of Tony’s amazing pasta dishes. And chocolate cake. I like chocolate. And sweets. Couldn’t much have any when I was young, cause I was poor and sick all the ti- _fuck_.”

God, he’s so weak.

He wants to start pulling at the restraints, to bite his own tongue off but he knows the more he reacts, the more they know it’s working. He has to remain calm and try to stop the goddamn word vomit.

Is this how Tony feels when his mouth runs away from him?

Speaking of, Steve doesn’t dare look over at what Tony’s expression really is. He’ll lose all conviction he has to let this play out if he has to look at the disappointment and disgust on his face.

“How utterly plebeian,” the scientist crows. “Don’t worry, Mr. Stark, I didn’t forget your concern about us verifying the veracity of the Captain’s statements. And I didn’t just display this taser for fun. Let’s play a game, shall we? The rules are simple. For every right answer the Captain gives, you will confirm if it is the truth or not.”

“Why the hell do you think I’d cooperate with you? I’m not afraid of some low voltage sorry excuse for a taser. Go ahead. I get worse on a daily basis working in my lab. Can you even get it charged enough to actually have some effect or is it gonna feel like rubbing my feet on the carpet and touching a conductor?”

“Oh, this is not for you,” the asshole says, pressing the button and causing electricity to spark between the electrodes. “If you fail to answer, we will shock the Captain until either you do, or he passes out from the pain. Please do resist, it’ll give us an opportunity to test the limits of the serum.”

“Go fuck yourself, chucklehead. Tony ain’t telling you nothi-” Steve cuts off with a startled shout when the HYDRA scientist shoves the taser into his side. He convulses as electricity courses through his veins and burns him from the inside.

“Tsk, tsk, these musclemen. No respect for men of science like ourselves, isn’t that true, Mr. Stark?”

Oh fuck. This isn’t good. Steve is wriggling against his bonds as if he’s being electrocuted. Which he is, damnit. The taser doesn’t just discharge, it’s a continuous flow of electricity. Tony swallows hard. He remembers the feeling, he’s crossed wires the wrong way all his life, he’s an electrical engineer, for god’s sake, he’s electrocuted himself more times than he cares to think about. It hurts like a motherfucker. He remembers that one time it gave him crazy arrhythmia for a couple days back at MIT.

And Steve is there taking 50,000 volts right in front of his eyes. For the flash of a second Tony wonders if it is possible for Captain America to die of a heart attack.

Then the goon steps back and lets his arm sink, even before Tony can protest, leaving Steve panting harshly.

Again Tony tries to swallow, but his throat is dry. The Captain practically ordered him to stay silent, confirm nothing Steve says. And at this point, Tony still isn’t sure whether the truth serum actually affects Steve or not. He’s pretty sure Steve was joking in the past when he told Tony he loves his pasta dishes.

On the other hand seeing him tortured might be the most difficult task Tony has faced yet and he’s not sure he can stand it.

“Now that the rules are clear for all involved, let us begin. Mr. Stark, why don’t you tell us whether the Captain really prefers an ordinary hamburger over all the culinary delights the world has to offer?”

Tony hesitates. Is this worth it? He’s not usually one to pick his battles, but maybe he can spare Steve some of the pain and at the same time confuse the ‘men of science’ – as this scumbag had the audacity to call himself – a little.

Steve’s eyes, however, tell him differently. Tony knows that look. It says ‘ _don’t give them an inch_ ’. He’s not sure this is the right choice, but it looks like he’s got no time to find a better option, as the douchenozzle turns toward him, giving Tony his undivided attention. “Come now, Mr. Stark. A game is only fun when everybody takes their turn.”

“I’ll pass, thanks,” Tony bites out, trying not to focus on the goon still armed with the taser.

The leader nods. “As you wish, Mr. Stark. Corrigan, if you would.”

The goon, Corrigan– and what the hell kind of name is that–, wastes no time, just steps close to Steve once more, placing the taser where Tony can’t see and presses the button.

Tony tries to look anywhere but at Steve. He tries to ignore the buzzing of the electricity. He tries. But he just can’t ignore Steve’s tortured screams. He’s just not strong enough.

“Okay, yes!” Tony shouts and the buzzing stops suddenly. The noise around him dies and all he can hear is Steve’s harsh panting as all eyes on the room are focussing on him. “Burgers. It’s cheeseburgers.”

Tony closes his eyes. He can’t bear to see the disappointment in Steve’s face.


	4. Chapter 4

Steve closes his eyes in despair. He hates that he put Tony in this position, hates the anguish he can see in his eyes even across the darkened room. He hates that Captain America couldn’t hold out for a little longer. They would have gotten tired of electrocuting him and given up sometime; even though his body screams at him for even thinking that, muscles stiff and tense, his heart pumping erratically reminding him of his pre-serum days. 

It’s nothing. He’s been through worse. As long as Tony doesn’t smell or see the burning flesh at the point of contact, they’ll be good. He just needs to show him he’s okay. 

“Can’t… say I’m v...ery impressed by this new age.. H-Hydra,” Steve pants. “You manufacture a truth serum and th-the only thing you get from us is… I like chee...eeseburgers. Even the internet will tell you that.” 

The smell, though, is hard to miss. It makes Tony want to vomit and not only because the stench of charred skin is horrible. But at least for the next few moments it’s over and Tony has time to close his eyes, to breathe and to think.

They need a distraction. Anything, really, to get out of this situation or at least keep the torture to a minimum until the other Avengers find them.

“See, Captain Rogers, that wasn’t half bad, now, was it,” the villain of the week continues. At least he’s one of the creeps who like listening to their own voice, Tony thinks, even though having to listen to his drivel is its own kind of torture. But at least it’s not Steve screaming and moaning in pain.

“Wow, that was really impressive,” Tony interjects, drawing the guy’s attention away from Steve. “I could have sworn that was just plain old torture just now.” He lifts his chin, forehead creased, as if he is deep in thought. “Don’t you agree, Cap? I faintly remember reading that Hydra used the same techniques back in the good old days and boy was it effective back then. Not.”

 

“Who says the torture is to make Captain America talk?” The scientist grins widely. 

“Tony?” Steve scoffs, “You’re trying to break Tony? You know he survived three months in a desert with a terrorist group, right? You think someone like you has it in him to break Tony Stark?” He intends on taunting the HYDRA scientists a little but his mouth keeps going without his permission. 

“We’ll see, won’t we, Captain. Since you’re in such a chatty mood, why don’t you tell us something a little more intimate? We can account for your presence almost by the minute, and yes, we have had you under heavy surveillance, no need to look so shocked-” The chucklehead brags even though Steve is sure his face is just twisted with the effort of not blurting out how annoyingly nasal the guy’s voice is. “-where do you go every Tuesday evenings at 7 pm sharp such that none of our agents have been able to track you down?” 

Damn them, Tony thinks. Damn them for asking questions Tony’s always wanted to know the answer to. Hydra isn’t the only one monitoring Steve’s whereabouts regularly - and he’ll have to get JARVIS and Happy on that asap, this cannot stand - but of course Tony does it for the safety of all the people living under his roof. Of course he was never rude enough to spy on the Captain or follow him when he goes out without telling any of them on Tuesday evenings. And he hasn’t dared ask, because frankly, he’d firmly believed it was dates Steve went on and in that case not knowing was better than being disappointed. He thinks. Maybe.

And now Steve will confess his torrid love affair with Agent 13, leaving Tony’s heart in the dust. He just wishes he’d be able to cover his ears so he doesn’t have to hear, but he’s still firmly tied. Those bastards really know no mercy.

“Aaargh! Shelter – I go to the – fuck – the animal shelter off of –” Steve bites his tongue, hard, to prevent himself from spilling the address but he can’t do much about the rest of the words spilling out, “- I like to cuddle the pups. I went once to escape the - the crowds and the photographers and they were so cute and so lonely. They looked at me with their cute puppy eyes. Couldn’t resist. I go there every Tuesday. I wanted to bring one back but I couldn’t choose. And I didn’t know if Tony - I mean, it’s not - it’s your home. I couldn’t bring an animal in without asking…” He trails off, screwing his eyes shut. He feels a rush of embarrassment and he knows he’ll be in for so many jokes now. 

Under the bright lights Tony can see Steve blush a becoming shade of red and Tony’s heart skips a beat or three. First off Steve is not dating anyone, at least on Tuesday evenings, and then he’s confessed to the most adorable habit. Tony always knew Steve had a gooey soft marshmallow center (no, bad brain, don’t go there!), but this is sweeter than even Tony could imagine. He won’t be able to get Steve cuddling puppies out of his head for weeks now.

“I would have adopted them all for you,” he blurts out, brain seemingly offline from all the sugar and making him wonder whether they’d given him any of the truth serum to try.

Tony considers being embarrassed for a moment but the radiant smile Steve gifts him with makes his confession worth it.

But of course that is the moment Admiral Asshole decides to step in once more. Damn it, they were having a moment.

“What a heartwarming confession, Captain,” he exclaims mockingly. “But you still haven’t given us the address.”

With a wave of his hand he motions his goon closer to Steve, taser gun firmly in hand. “How about it, we get another round of electricity in you and try that again?” 

“Give it your worst, you ass, I won’t tell. This is between you and me, they’re civilians. They have nothing to do with this. Neither do those puppies,” Steve grits out, knowing he’s overplaying his hand by showing how much he cares but he can’t stop the words from spilling from between his lips. He’s sweating now, his hands trembling in their restraints, his stomach roiling unpleasantly at the impending threat of another electric shock. 

“We’ll see about that. Where is the shelter, Captain?” 

His body is racked with another jolt, his teeth clamping down, biting down on a part of his tongue as he chokes on his scream. Blood and spit obstructs his breathing causing him to hack his lungs out as soon as the taser is removed. His wrists are screaming in agony at the constant struggle against the restraints and he heaves in large gulpful of airs – and for a second he feels like he’s five-foot nothing of health issues – spitting out a glob of blood and spit. 

“Suck my whole entire ass.” 

Tony watches horrified as Steve coughs up blood along with another tortured moan.

This is bad. They can’t keep this up for much longer if Steve is already affected like that. And the truth serum is very obviously doing something to him, considering the insult that comes out completely garbled.

Captain America never swears.

But at least once the serum starts to work, they’ll have no more reason to torture him. 

Sometimes Tony hates that he’s always right. It takes just another wave with the taser to make Steve shrink back as far as he can - which isn’t far since he is still restrained - and rattle off an address that Tony is pretty sure belongs to the shelter judging by Steve’s horrified look.

“Well done, Captain,” the menace smiles benevolently. “We didn’t even need you to verify that. Looks like we’re finally making progress.”

“You think your truth serum is actually working?” Tony spits out, face twisting into a mask of disgust or anger - he’s not sure which. He just needs to hide his fear. “You’ll never get the better of us!”

He hopes it’s true. He must be right. The serum must be a hoax and this is all just some clever tactic of Steve to protect Tony and to give the other Avengers time to find them. Because if it’s not, if the serum works, then Steve is going to reveal the codes that will grant HYDRA access to the helicarriers and all will be lost.

“Seems like we’re pretty close,” the man laughs and watches with satisfaction as Steve hacks up another mouthful of blood. Oh if only Tony could move! “Why don’t we try that again, Captain, just to verify the results.”

Oh god, please, no no more…. Steve thinks to himself, his eyes screwed shut and is treated to the raucous laughter of the scientist. 

“Never knew I’d see the day that Captain America would beg in front of me,” he boasts and oh, oh, Steve said that out loud. He opens his eyes and sees he looks of confusion and fear in Tony’s face and he really really needs to get his crap under control because the way this is going, Steve will end up spilling everything. 

“Why don’t we up the ante?”

“Sure,” Steve pants. He never knew when to just admit defeat, even if it means another beating, another black eye, another round of torture. “I can do this all day.”

The man’s smile turns icy. It sends a shiver down Steve’s spine. “If you insist, let’s continue to the main event. What are the codes for the helicarrier?”

Tony protests, “No! Don’t say a word, Steve!” 

Steve feels compelled to speak, words forming at the tip of his tongue, ready to drop and he can’t stop it. His body is betraying him and he hates how helpless he is, how desperately Tony is begging him. He clenches his jaw shut and feels his teeth clack together more than a little painfully.

“Would you rather bite your tongue clean off than answer? Well, your stubbornness is legendary. Why don’t we change tactics? How about instead of shocking you, I have my associate shock Mr. Stark here. Just for variety’s sake? I’ve heard about the negative interactions between electricity and the arc reactor. Perhaps we might discover something for ourselves. How about it, Captain? Are you willing to sacrifice your teammate for your stubbornness?” 

“No!” Steve shouts, unable to hold back any longer, “No, not him! Don’t you dare go near him! I’ll kill you!” 

“Wow, such passion for a teammate? Tell u-” 

“He’s not just a teammate. He’s Tony and if you think his worth if only because he puts on an amazing suit of armour and saves the world twice before breakfast then you don’t know him at all. Tony Stark is the most brilliant, kind, intelligent, and capable person I know and that’s when he’s not even trying. Sometimes I wonder how I could ever live up to the mettle of a hero in a world that has Tony. You’re all dumb as rocks if you think he already doesn’t have a few tricks up his sleeve. He’s gonna do what he does best and save the day.” 

“Jeez, lighten up, you in love with him or something,” the guy holding taser mutters under his breath but the stupid serum and Steve’s filter-less brain takes it as another question to answer. 

“Of course I’m in love with him, who wouldn’t be? He’s the best thing about this century and if I had to do it all over again I’d do it just so I could meet him.” 

Tony needs a second to process what Steve is actually saying. And another one to realize that his mouth is standing wide open. He closes it with a click of his teeth.

These are the words he’s longed to hear for so long, words he’s even dreamed of when he was still a teenager and worshipping his Captain America poster. To hear them now makes his heart skip a beat.

Tony’s eyes are fixed firmly to Steve’s face. The man isn’t even blushing. He’s beautiful, all defiant like that, defending Tony even though he is bound and helpless.

But wait – it cannot be. This isn’t real. Steve is not in love with him. Tony knows that as surely as he knows that 1+1 does almost equal two.

His heart breaks and it is probably visible in his eyes, so he doesn’t dare look at Steve. Don’t let them see you hurt, it’s worked for him so far. Mostly.

Steve Rogers has never loved him.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi to [ me (roe) ](http://roe-sesandthorns.tumblr.com/) or [ Wini! ](https://harvestingstorm.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Or join the [ Stuckony Server ](https://discord.gg/Pe23pBY) for all things Steve, Bucky, Tony!


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